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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord that my noble friend Lord Howard of Rising has won the argument on Amendment 171 and that I should not pursue Amendment 173. However, I want to set the noble Lord straight on where I am aiming at in this Bill as a whole. I do not think that any of us is defending illegal downloading. We are all trying to produce a system that gets copyright owners, of whom I am one, a proper return for the product that is sold over the internet, of which I do a good deal. My concerns arise as I do not believe that there are acceptable technical measures that will deal with the methods that illegal downloaders will resort to if we do not make it possible for them to obtain the product that they want, in the way that they want, easily and at a sensible price. If we support the industry in its backwards-facing approach, we will merely get the illegal downloaders adopting methods to which the only solution is deep packet inspection. That essentially means that we will allow officialdom to see our entire internet traffic. I do not think that that is what the Government intend or what any of us would find acceptable, particularly as a measure just to protect copyright. Protecting copyright to the extent that the law requires it must be in the context that the industry is doing its bit, too. I shall take the approach that protecting my own copyrights is best done by enhancing the user’s experience, whereby cheating and copying will result in a less fulfilling experience than paying the price that I am asking. It is perfectly possible for the industry to do that; indeed, parts of it are doing that. Regarding those who need only copyright protection, we should not continue to refuse to make material available. I return to the example that the noble Lord gave about "Avatar". As soon as there is a buzz out there about a film, people want to see what it is about, have something to satisfy that curiosity, know what they should be going to and be part of this great experience—although they have not yet been to the cinema. We should require the industry to deal properly with its customers. All my amendments are aimed merely at trying to get the industry to recognise that we are in a new century and that there are new ways of doing things and making money out of copyright. That is what the industry should be pursuing. I entirely agree with the noble Lord that no one in the Committee is saying that we should not defend copyright or that we should in some way promote or allow illegal downloading.